Restore a Sony Vaio PC to its factory settings

You often say that, my computer failed to do an specific action or I didn’t broke my PC, my Windows is slow or is running extremely slow, my computer is virus infected, my computer has no sound or my webcam is not working any more … and so on. Often, the solution of computer problems resumes to Windows reinstall.

All of you should know that this operation is not very pleasant: you have to format your windows drive, reinstall drivers and all the applications and it can also be expensive if you pay some professional support. What if I tell you that for Vaio PC’s this operations is made with some few clicks? No disks, no flash usb memory, no other external devices … just few clicks.

Vaio PC’s has a tool called VAIO Recovery Center.This tool allows you to create backup points and restore your windows, to create hardware diagnostics, or you can have the possibility of reinstall programs or drivers, wipe and erase data, creating recovery disks or erase all data and restore your entire system to factory settings.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to restore your Vaio PC to it’s factory settings. In other words how to restore your computer to it’s original settings (in the exact state you bought it).

For that you have to:

1. Back-up all your data. Restoring to factory setting means to erase all data and reinstall Windows, drivers and preinstalled applications. If you have a single drive (C:) you have to backup your data to external drive or disks.

2. Start VAIO Recovery Center. Click on Start button and then click on All Programs. From the program list select “VAIO Recovery Center“.

6. Read the information on this new window, select “I understand” and hit Start.

7. “Are you sure?” If you made backup for all your data and really want to restore your Vaio as it was when you bought it you have to make sure that have it plugged in to a stable source of energy and press YES.

8. So … next you should sit back and relax. Your computer will start showing the next messages
Shuting Down
Windows is loading files …
Restoring your operating system
Please wait a moment while Windows prepares to start for the first time…
Windows Vista setup: The initial setup may take up to 15 minutes. Do not turn off the computer. Click OK to continue the setup process and wait until the “Set up Windows screen appears”. Select OK

9. Take your time until your system install VAIO software

Finish to restart.

10. That’s all. Now, your VAIO has the original operating system, drivers and software. Now you have to configure your VAIO as you want.

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249 comments

Thanks so much, i was looking for a good guide to help with the restore. I just wish i was able to print out the guide to use during my restore, it would have been much more handy. (seeing as my attempt at printing the webpage showed the lack of words.)

I have a VAIO VGC M1 all in one desktop, purchased in 2005
theold hard disk ide 160gb with WIN XP SP2 HOME EDITION is not functioning well. When booting it shuts down and restarts and at times it give blue screen errors So i got a new 160gb hard drive how can i get back all my pre installed software back on this new disk.
i made recovery DVDs from the old hard disk before it started having problems so can i use this or what path do in take to enjoy my VAIO ONCE AGAIN

hi a have a vaio vpcee2e1e,, the screan was broken 3 week agot and i got it replace, it was working fine for a week and now it won’t boot , so i need to push the one bouton many time to make it load, when it load it work fine but when i shut down, it won’t boot again, i wanted to reset it but on start menu and all program i couldn’t see a vaio recovery staff, i don’t know what to do …please help

1. Your Vaio has a new software called “VAIO Care” that includes the same options. To to Start and search for Vaio Care software. The left meniu, select “Recovery & restore” then Recover Computer. Read all the instructions and follow the wizard. It should be quite easy.

or 2. After you push the power on button press F10. Here you may have the “VAIO Recovery Environment” option. Go there and follow the steps.

my son rebooted vaio laptop and nothng happens now windows or anything else doesnt show up phoned my insurance and told me i got to purchase setup discs because ii bought it ready setup came with no dics and didnt back any when bought is there any way i can set it up wiyhout buying it

i have a sony nr32 laptop..on the screen where it says preparing to install software…

under it where it says the program and drivers are noe being installed…

thyre is the software bar under which it says copying software to c:drive the software isnt coming on to the pc i easily cn wait 5 hours and it still remains at 0 percent..i hve the errory check memory diagnistics….thts all well just here its frozen on i cnt log into the pc at all knw.. help

i have vgn-cs36gj and already upgrade to win7..recently my microsoft office have problem i want to uninstall in but cannot. alot of come out..should i format my laptop? if i use this steps..will it install the vista back?please help me?
thank you

I have a VAIO VPCEB13FX that i tried to restore using the F10 key when the VAIO screen appears, i do this since i can’t log on to the windows 7 main screen. When i reformatted it the computer restarted after it however it lead to a blank screen and nothing happens after that. Can you please tell me what may be the problem? Just to let you know i did the VAIO diagnostics option and it says that my CPU and Hardware are all OK. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

i have a sony vaio model VGN-NS10L laptop. I tried to restore my vaio to its factory settings. I followed your step but when it reach step 9 where it starts setting up window after loading the windows. Two boxes open one is showing the progress bar and one small box which says window is installing follwoing items and underneath it VIAO RECOVERY SYSTEM. I left computer for about 5 hours to install the software during recovery process but the bar still showing 0%.
Could you please help me. I have shut down the laptop several times and tried to do the same steps again but still same problem.

I have Vaio Care 6.4.2.11150, but I don’t have the option to Create Recovery Disks in Recovery menu ( Recovery and Restore ) , I don’t have it at all and that’s why I’m looking for Vaio Recovery Center or something like it, just to make backup dvd’s ’cause dvd no.1 get damaged.

Try to update your VAIO Care if any update available (I saw that you have the last version but check Vaio Update one more time) and maybe you’ll get that option.

If not, you can choose “Reinstall Applications and Drivers” and hope to have a complete version of VAIO Care. Hmmm… you can also ask the community around http://esupport.sony.com/ and maybe someone else had a similar problem.

I tried Vaio Update and I didn’t find anything interesting.
I had done the “Reinstall Applications and Driver”, but the problem is that it never install because while I’m installing it, I have to have the Vaio Care on so there’s so effect.

I have Sony Vaio VPCEB26GM, i tried to update BIOS,but it failed,then i replaced its BIOS, everything is ok,except CPU FAN,that doesn’t run. When i take its connection off from motherboard and connect it here again,it works only for the 1st time.I formatted it for several times,now i need vaio POWER MANAGEMENT UTILITY to fix it. Could you please tell me, if i use alt+10 in startup,can it fix my problem or restore it to factory settings?I haven’t formatted it professionally

It’s strange … a software problem is usually not responsible of problems with cooling fans. Those fan’s should work automatically, depending on the temperature of the CPU – turning off and on when is needed -. It is normal if it doesn’t work all the time but is strange when is not working at all.

1. Tell me if you can open your computer, load windows and operate with it.

2. Tell me if you computer has any other strange behavior, excepting the fact that your fan doesn’t seem to work … Especially if your computer turns off suddenly when you work or/and play video-games.

Your fan works at start-up and then is turned off automatically. Laptop computers (also the new desktop) use an automatically system that measures the temperature of your CPU and if cooling is required, then starts the fan … otherwise, the fan is turned off to lower the power consumption.

Thanks for your reply. But it doesn’t work at all. I opened it,looked closer,and saw that it doesn’t run,i checled the temperature,however it rises up 96 degree,but the fan doesn’t run. It happened after changing the BIOS. I contacted to sony support,and they recommended me to fix it by using power management. As formatted it for several times,the power management utility and system restore partition have been deleted. Now i need a restore recovery disc to rstore it to factory settings. Could you please tell me, what can be a problem here? Can there be a lack in the BIOS programme?How can i fix it? Please any idea

Not sure about the cause of the problem … it can be an awkward configuration of your BIOS like increasing the temperature threshold or reporting inaccurate temperatures (firmware errors).

I saw on the SONY support page that the BIOS update has a note: “This utility updates the BIOS to version R0300Y8 to provide improved fan control.”. This confirms that there were some changing in that specific firmware that controls your fan.

You can update your BIOS from CD/Flash Drive (I hope). Go and ask again the VAIO support for a CD/Flash version of your BIOS. On the Support page they only offer a windows version update that doesn’t work in your case.

Or you can try with those Power Management tools. Unfortunately for you, the recovery disks are required if your health (recovery) partition was deleted. Maybe they can provide a BIOS update that works from a CD or flash disk.

I’m trying to reconfigure a Sony Vaio right now, as it is locked by a password that I do not know. I just hit F10 while it was booting up, and now it is reconfiguring on its own. Let me know if this is the best way for me to unlock this computer please BogDan.

Hello Vikki
Yes, it should work if your only concern is to remove a Windows password. If you choose the “Restore to factory settings” then you will lose all the information on your computer, including password or other settings.

Could you please tell me, why the windows version will not work in my case?
How can i use its flash version?I don’t know whole process in using flash version of Bios update. Looking forward to hearing from you

I have vaio e series vpcea23en. I have ubuntu dual booted. Now I am not able to recover and get an error saying that “C drive may not exist or too small”.

I checked from ubuntu that 14Gb hidden partition, 650 MB recovery partition and 108 GB C drive partition are all intact. I formatted the C drive too. Still I get the same error. I did not seem to have a working back up, what are my options?

Except the hidden partition/recovery partition, how many drives do you have? Only C: ?

A solution is to backup all your files, restart your computer and press F12 before entering to your OS (Ubuntu I guess). You will enter the recovery mode. Here choose to restore your operating system. This will delete all your files from C: drive (but i think it’s OK if you formatted it).
Follow the steps from that recovery processes and it should work (if your recovery drive and files are intact).

I don’t know if works but you can try to install a windows version from a disk (hope you can find a copy).

There is a step “Where do you want to install windows”. Go to advanced Drive options and delete C: (make it as unallocated space) and then create the partition again. Be very careful not to delete any recovery/health partition.

Install windows as normal and then use the recovery option to put all back in the right place (your licensed windows with all drivers and software).

I don’t know why you get that error (c: is to small) but hope this thing works.

Hello … that’s all right. You don’t have to anything. Using the recovery options are just strait forward…. open your recovery tool and choose from those option . Don’t worry about how that partition is reported and you should never try to modify it (like a format or trying to see it’s actual content).

Your recovery partition should be active and you have to use the recovery tools to make it work. Simple as that.

I HV 1 VAIO LAPTOP AND SAY TO ME ERROR THE HARD DISC IN START PRESS F1 TO CONTINUE BUT NOTHINK I DO IT FORMAT AND INSTALL XP THE SAME BUT WHEN I PRESS F1 START OK BUT AFTER 15 MINS STUCK THE LAP ITS PROBLEM THE HARD DISC …SOME SOLUTION CAN I USE EXTERNAL HARD DISK TO WORK AND HOW I CAN DO IT OR CAN I FIX THE HARD DISC ???????

Sir pls let me know at ur earliest convenience if I go for FACTORY SETTINGS in my Sony Vaio model no VPCEH25EN, will Factory Settings erase all my data that I have kept on D, F and G Drives or it will only erase the data of C drive only.

Hello … I personally didn’t tried that but guys from Sony are saying this:

Sony recommends the disconnecting any additional hard drives that have may been installed in the computer to avoid recovery issues or data loss.NOTES:

On some older models, the CDROM drive is permanently mapped to drive G: when performing a recovery. Depending on the number of partitions created on the hard drives in the computer, the system recovery procedure may not be able to map the CDROM to drive G: and the recovery will fail.

The system recovery process on many models will also reformat the D: drive. When an additional hard drive is installed, the primary partition on the new drive will be assigned drive D: . When a recovery is performed, any information in this partition will be lost.

Could you please tell me where can i get a factory reset recovery disc for VAIO VPC EB26GM? I looked for it but i couldn’t find. Please give me any information about it? Or can i use other VAIO E series recovery disc for my model? When i press the fn+F10 in startup it shows that something is nonexecutible and some codes,it’s because i’ve formatted it for several times. And is it possible to recover deleted partition on by using any software?

It is possible to have problems with your recovery partition. Then you need to contact a sony service to deal with this problem. You ca not use a copy of the recovery disks from another vaio because those includes different licence.

Most probably you need to pay a fee to receive your recovery disks from the Sony Service.

Hey so im on restoring C: Drive screen right now. I wait on the screen for like ever and its still at 0% also it says on the bottom how its “starting in 0 seconds…” but nothing is happening. I’m not using any CD’s and got to the recovery center from the f10 key.

So yeah i’ve restarted it countless number of times, and nothing is happening its still at 0%. Also my actualy battery died like is literally out and can no longer be charged so at the moment its being held up by a charger. Any recommendations?

hello i recently purchased vaio E-series laptop, bt during the work time my laptop suddenly stops working and a blue window appears saying window saved from a serious issue n den again i have to turn off the laptop n den restart it again , do i need to format my laptop n also how? n my vaio update is nt getting updated :((
please help

HI bogdan. I have a F sere vaio. I had a problem with webcam and tried to become factory settings. I have no disc. Process had began but after several hours it´s still on %76… What kind of stuation is it? IF I reboot com. there will be a problem for my settings and hardware? PLEase help. Thank you

Hello. I have VAIO model VPCEA12EG. I sent it for service because of fans problem and i found out that the recovery partition had been deleted. And now i have Windows 7 but not the VAIO version. Do you know how i can restore it back to VAIO version because the my recovery disc won’t work since the recovery partition is missing. Thank you. :)

I have attempted to do as you recommend, I get as far as the “please wait a moment while windows prepares to start for the first time screen”, and no further, no matter how long I leave it. I have a vaio VGN-AR41E, running windows vista, it was bought as an exdisplay model and the vendor didn’t supply any discs at all with it, we literally got a computer and a box. What can I do? Many thanks for an informative article, btw.

nw my laptop model no VPCEH25EN is working fine havng installed W-7 home basic bt my laptop is nt able to set free themes wich i have downloaded from the official windows website, it says its nt compatible bt earlier *before formatting* wen i had installed it was working fine bt now its facing problems :((

I appreciate your kind help to all these ppl how faced problems with Sony Vaio laptop.

As like others I bought a Sony Vaio laptop probably on 2003. Model no. VGN-FS93G.

Problems:

1. I lost all my cds.
2. I installed a pirated copy of win 7 just to try how it works.
3. now I want to go back to my originals soft.
4. from where can I download winXp home edition. because I have the CD key with me.

Hi Bogdan
My VAIO laptop was very slow and I try to factory restore bcz I hav no backup! But the process if restoring takes about 36 hr and it has just 87% progressed! I am wondering if this time is usual to complete the restoring!
+ I skip “Hardware Diagnostics”.
Tnx for help in advanced!

Usually is a couple of hours (one or two) but definitely not more than, i don’t know, 5 hours. In my case, an 5 years old VAIO takes around one hour to completely restore (including preinstalled software).

sir, i want to know that how can i recover window 7 on vaio laptop..?? my laptop is not starting and it shows only black screen.even its not starting in safe mode. how can i recover window without losing data on my other drives? it only showing message either to repair the window or to start the window normally.

I have a vgn-cr23g vaio laptop. I could manage to go into safe mode to access the recovery centre. However, the program just stopped responding after I clicked start to restore the com. What should I do then?

I have a different problem here. After factory restoring my pcg71211v my sony vaio notebook becomes very slow and lagging especially when i starts internet application like mozilla or chrome… am i having a hardware problem here? Thanks in advance!!!

i have a vaio VPC S129FJ and i have problems concerning luminosity NOTHING works in solvin it so i thought about restoring the laptop but for instlling vaio recovery center i find thati must already have some drivers that i can’t find for my model which is a bit new (2010) help me plzzzz

Hi Bogdan,
I am trying to restore to factory settings an old PCG- 7X1L without recover disks an using recovery center. However, whenever it reaches 82% in the step 9 of your guide, it stops completely. The program that is being installed when this happens is Quickbooks

Hi Bogdan,
I have a Sony Vaio Model no PCG-7G1M . I’m trying to use Sony recovery utility, but get an error at about 94℅. The error is “error reading from stream” I’ve tried booting from CD, but it won’t do it. I have recovery discs, but they won’t load now and when I reboot I get an error “error loading operating system”. I even tried the BIOS, it too was a dead end as I can’t change the boot to CD. Please help.

hi, I was currently restoring my sony vaio E series VPCEA43EG when I saw you guide and I didn’t know that it was possible to do that instead of using F10. So right now my laptop is restoring to its original factory settings through the F10 key, but now it’s asking me to insert windows installation disc to continue. I was rummaging through my cds and I saw a Windows 7 starter 32-bit software. So I’m wondering if this would do the trick. I’m scared that my computer crash if the cd wasn’t compatible with the Sony Vaio E series. Thanks in advance for your reply

Dea Sir
I have a VGN-NR160E labtop.
Unfortunatly I have formated my original Vista and instaled a widows 7 on that for two times.
I do not have any recovery CD.
Please tell me how can I go for my original vistsa?

You need to contact Sony support and ask for your recovery disks (unfortunately you have to pay for this). Unfortunately, any change to your hard disk drive will damage your recovery tools and therefore the only solution to go back to original settings is by these recovery disks.

But … Why do you want to get back your vista? I think is better for you to use Windows 7. I’m sure that you will find all the drivers and softwares you got with your Windows Vista on the Sony VAIO support website.

Hi
I am using sony vaio VGN-NS30Z
I made recovery cd’s way back when i bought my laptop.
Now i want to restore my laptop to its factory settings by using those cd’s, i’ve followed your above procedure, at step 8 it Shuting Down,says Windows is loading files … but not saying Restoring your operating system and directly showing my desktop again..

as like you told, i’ve inserted 1st recovery cd and restarted my system and pressed F10, but i can just find two options in it(Vaio Hardware Diagnostics and Rescue Data), couldn’t find restore C drive option. unfortunatly I am not able to attach images here to show you.
I’ve mailed to this mail id:

Thank you very much BOGDAN. My brother has VAIO E series. The recovery media were corrupted. The formatting stops after 5% & windows couldn’t start. It showed error messages like”BOOTMGR NOT FOUND”. So, I was tensed. But thanks to BOGDAN , who provided the vaio recovery manual . I easily formatted the vaio using “ASSIST button”. NO need of RECOVERY MEDIA DVDs.

hi Bogdan. Do you speak romanian? Do you have a phone number where I can call you? I have a similar problem where bassicaly everything was wipped out and new windows was installed. It is a different bit version and basicaly it does not recognize any of the network interfaces/ drivers. Everything was lost and I would pretty much be interested to restore it to factory installed software. Can you help me how to go about doing it? It is a Vaio model vpceb37fx which was running win 7, I think it was a 64 bit version.
By the way, I am romanian. That is the reason I asked for phone number.

i own vaio VGN FZ-15 windows vista, i tried to recover it with vaio recovery F10 key during start up, all went well untill it hangs during restarting…” please wait while the windows starts for the first timë “.i waited for hours and also have tried to recover it many times but it’s always same, the system hangs and the windows set up screen does not start. i dont have a recovery disk neither do i have an installation cd at this time…please suggest some options.

Hello
I have a Vaio F series laptop.
It showed me bootmgr no found so i tried to restore using vaio rescue software. After formatting is completed it shows “preparing your system for the first time” and starts installing the drivers. In abt 58% the laptop shuts down.
When i restart it after the windows logo it shows welcome and an error pops out stating” windows couldnot complete installation. Toinstal yye windows on yhis computer, restart the installation.
Pls help!!!

Hi, I bought 2nd hand E series VPCEA35FG. It has dual os win7 & win7 home premium w/c the original os but I cannot get in bcoz it has password and I forgot to get from the seller who is now hard to reach. It was kinda slow coz of many apps installed and I wanted to restore its original setting but when I press F10 it only gives me the win path, patition & hard disk number/code…can any1 help me? Thanks

I have tried the above steps, but i cannot see the whole screen, and it will not allow me to click “I understand” as i cannot see the tick box. Is there a way i can make the font smaller so I can see the tick boxes?

Hi, I am unable to burn DVDs in Sony vaio laptop EH38 but I can read DVDs and read, burn CDs..I updated the drivers and its upto date and also deleted the upper and lower filters but still facing this issue…..please help me …thank you in advance…

please help, i have a sony vaio VPCEE2E1E and its accidentally been set back to factory without saving the documents from it.
I have acronis recovery of lost/deleted files and it runs from Flash Drive, I have tried in bios setting up extrenal device enabled and set to first boot but it will not boot to it no matter what keys i press.

unfortunately i was uninstalled d arcsoft webcam4 of my sony (e series VPCEH25EN).while reinstalliing it ,it shows “non existent java run time environment or runtime is corrupted”.wt i hav to do now to get default verssion of arcsoft webcam4 with out distrubing d other installed softwares.plz provide d solution as early as possible……….

Greetings.
i have a Sony Vaio “Product: SVE15115EAB” i reinstalled windows 7 and i have lost the disks attached with the laptop, and now i can’t install any of the drivers, can you please help me with this. and if i can install “vaio recovery center” and make it do the job ??

Sony Vaio VPCEB1E0E, a friend of mine was putting windows 7 on it just when it came out and ive never had the same things on it since, none of my vaio buttons work I want to restore it back to its original factory settings but I don’t have vaio recovery or anything!!!!

really at the end of my tether here can anyone please help me????
Laura

Hey, I reformatted my vaio laptop- and I am facing a problem. Upon restoring the C drive I am stuck at 96%. It is rather peculiar as I have run the process twice and it remains at uniformity at the same percentage. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.
Also fyi, at 96% it is installing the intel wireless router driver.

If not possible or if no success then you can search for an Windows disk and use the repair option in order to boot into windows. After that you can manually install your remaining drivers and software (from Sony Support website).

Hi Bogdan
Sony Vaio AR71S- After discs crash I’ve changed the discs (2 new samsung 320Gb) insted of oryginally mounted fujitsu 250GB) Ive bought set of recovery DVDs from sony support. trying to restore complete system to factory settings, but it stops after asking me if i want to keep Vaio value contents as a part of recovery drive – saying that “cannot use this recovery disc for the computer. Confirm the model type” and then “Error:MakeInFromMcode,Error:89” Same thing happends when I’m trying just to restore C:Drive… Recovery DVDs are made for Sony Vaio AR 61S/M/E – AR71S/M/E/J.(BTW – I’ve bouth them for mine vaio AR 71S – so they should be OK), I’ve reset the Bios to factory settings also and bios says My model is AR71S… Don’t know what to do.. I was trying different things – Creating RAID 0 on new discs, Formatting them, etc… Still the same.
Any Ideas? Thanks in advance.
Andrew

It is strange. Normally, the idea of Sony Recovery tool is to make the job easier when you have problems with your OS or your hard drive… but it seems that you are not the only case and there are other people there that can’t get their OS back after the HDD was changed. If you already bought the original disks with your personal windows license (from Sony) then you should give them a call and ask about this error. Maybe they know any work around.

My personal advice to you is to manually install your OS and your VAIO drivers. You can search for a Windows OEM version and install it using the serial number found on the sticker on the back of your laptop. (if you have Windows 7 then you can download the free trial version from here http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/Windows-7.shtml and if use your serial you will get the full version). After you’ve installed your fresh Windows you can find all your software and drivers on the Sony support website: http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/VGN-AR71S/updates . There is a little bit of work to get the job done but is free and your computer will be as new. Unfortunately, you will not be able to use the Recovery feature while no recovery partition is created on your drive (maybe here your disks can be used but not sure).

In any case, you should be able to make your VAIO as new even if you changed your HDD. Let me know if you need further support. Good luck!

I think I have messed up my Sony Vaio VGN-FZ18G. What I needed was to set it to factory setting, yet I selected ‘wipe and erase data’. When that was done, the error message ‘Operating system not found’ popped by when the system reboot.

Restart your computer and press F10 when you see the first VAIO logo. You will enter the recovery tools and from there you will be able to recover your OS (Windows).
Let me know if you need further assistance.

I wiped my Sony Vaio to original factory settings. The problem is when the OS was supposed to reload I am getting the error message “The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000006). Click OK to terminate the application. It shows up on the windows blue screen. I press OK but the computer just does the same loop again and comes back to the message. I have recovery discs that I made when I purchased the computer but not sure how to use them or if this will fix the problem. Any help would be awesome!!
Model: PCG-7133L
Windows Vista Home Premium OS

Hi. You may have a hardware problem. I first suggest to make an analysis to your HDD in order to detect any problems. There are some software that can do that for free under Linux… so you can download for free any Linux distribution that have Live option and you can boot into Linux without changes to your computer (try with Ubuntu using a CD or a USB stick and boot using Live option).

Another suggestion is to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 (a fresh install would be even better).
Good luck! Keep me posted if you need any additional info.

Hey, I hope I’m not too late, I have a Sony vaio laptop, model VPCEB2MOE, I am trying to factory reset following your steps. I have managed to get to the shutting down part, however when my laptop goes past the “Windows loading files” a box pops up saying “recovery tools are being launched” after about 10 minutes or more another box pops up, it has a red x in the top corner of the box and there is also text in the middle of the box saying “failed to copy folder” and then my laptop restarts itself and the whole “recovery tools are being launched” happens again

Hi, I very much appreciate this information but I just wanted to know, if I follow these steps, will all installations such as Microsoft word or such get deleted. I don’t have the CD to install them again and I don’t want to try this until I’m very sure nothing important will get deleted. I don’t care about the pictures or documents or even videos, I want everything deleted like a brand new laptop but with everything I installed to remain. Is it OK to continue with this procedure? And thank you for taking your time out and answering.

Hi Emmanuel … what I know is that you can buy the disks from Sony support but it can be quite expensive. What I suggest is to search for a Microsoft WIndows disk and install it as a normal OS. Activate your windows using the serial key found on the sticker you got on the back of your VAIO (or bellow the battery pack).

hello i have changed my vaio vpceh25en window 7 home basic to windows 7 ultimate without any back up or recovery but when i use vaio care in windows 7 ultimate a drive called recovery partion has appeared which is about 12 gb then how i do get back my factory condition

but i first upgraded to windows 8 and again downgraded to windows 7 ultimate with your help i used vaio care rescue and it worked in resetting to default factory setting. I think this worked due to upgrade

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I have SVE15113ENB and I want to restore to factory settings. How do I do it in this laptop series? And I have transferred the data to my D and F drives, would they be erased as well? I am getting a lot of noise, but the repair guy says the speakers look fine, must be some application. And few of my keys are printing multiple letters. Is there any other way apart from buying a new keyboard?

As I said, my laptop is making a lot if noise as if it’s speakers are not working properly. But the repair guy says the speakers look fine, may be some running application is creating that noise. Also few of the keys are typing in multiple letters, is there a way to repair or I need to her the keyboard changed?

I have vpceh25en using from 2010.. now the problem is.. I have blue screen appearing which saying. A problem has been detected Windows going to shutdown from prevent damage.. it’s also saying remove any newly installed software or hardware.. last year I installed 2 gb ram.. I thought this may be cause.. I removed and recoverd throw the assist button.. after an hour or days it’s appearing again.. do u have any suggestions please help me..

And one more I visited also sony service center they did the same thinks.. also with recovery cds.. but same I have…

Hi sir. I have some problem with my VAIO laptop. And I can not find any solution to fix it. It would be glad if you can give me some advise.

The problem is:

My SONY VAIO VPCF236HG is running normally but it seem not running smoothly even I just open the folder (My Documents or even a small Folder) it will take 3 or 4 second to load every time . And when I use Ms Office word by scrolling up and down to see the text it still take a few second to load the text even just the simple text. I think my computer spec is not to small. I used other computer that is their spec is smaller then my but they still running smoother than mine. Please help. (sorry for my English)

recently i have formatted my sony vaio sve15115 series laptop
recovery option is missing instead of downloading all original drivers and patches
i want to restore my laptop to original one
My previous os was win 7 home basic
i have installed win 7 ultimate
please help me as my wireless and bluetooth drivers are not working

Most probably you have also deleted the recovery partition from your HDD (the one that contains your windows files and drivers). Therefore you will not be able to recover your system to original state without recovery DVD’s.

In this case I recommend you to install Windows 7 using the serial number you have on the back and manually install your drivers from Sony Support website.

I have the same problem, I didn’t recover with any drive or DVD… What should I do?
I tried to restart the laptop, now it says windows could not complete the installation.to install windows on this computer, restart your installation.
Help me out

if you are not able to use the recovery options I recommend you to make a fresh Windows Install on your C: drive (do not make changes to your HDD partitions) using a original bootable Windows DVD/USB. Then manually install all your drivers from Sony Support Website.
Of course, It might also be the possibility to buy the original DVD’s from Sony and try the recovery option with them but this might be quite expensive.

Hello SWAE,
The example in this post is old now. Sony has a new application called VAIO Care that will support you to a reset to factory setting.

Therefore, to perform this action you need to:1. Backup your data (restore to factory settings will erase all of your data from your PC)2. Create you recovery DVD’s/Media. Even if you have all the drivers and Windows files on a special hidden partition of your hard drive and you will not need the DVD’s during this operation it is strongly recommended to have them in the improbable moment when your “Helth partition” is damaged of something goes wrong.
Instruction on how to create your recovery DVD’s or media you can find here:http://docs.esupport.sony.com/pc/VPCEG1_EH1_EJ1_EL1_series/EN/contents/02/13/12/12.html

3. Perform a “Recover Computer” action. This will automatically format your hard drive and you only need to follow some simple steps. The instructions can be found here:

Hello,
i am using Sony 14e laptop. it is showing black screen with cursor and task manager is not opening. i have the recovery made. i want to format only c drive drive not e: f: or g: .can u help me resetting only c drive.
waiting for your help.

I want to restore and re organize my computer, as i think it has a virus. If I make a windows backup to my external hard drive, would a virus infect the hard drive, and wouldn’t restoring my files from the hard drive bring the virus with it?

I have sony vaio laptop e series. sve13115enb model.
I deleted recovery accidentally without having any backup in cd or usb.
I formatted windows but i see wifi not getting connected, internet data card getting disconnected intermittently, touch pad not working smooth, and other problems.
I want to get recovery without going to a service centre. Can u please help me to troubleshoot this ?

sorry for my late reply. Unfortunately you are not able to recover your “recovery partition” if that one was erased. All you can do now if you want to avoid Sony Center is to install your Windows and download the original drivers for your device using Sony Support website … I guess this ones should fit your needs:

Dear sir plz help, I don’t know, whether some of my application were automatically uninstalled or get crupted.it also include inbuilt apps of vaio. I want them back. How can i restore my windows 7 on vaio without using back-up disk and without losing data on other drive. I have bulk data and setups of some important apps on my another drive and don’t want to loose those.

Using VAIO Care software you can reinstall your original apps. This will do exactly what you need. The reset to factory settings is deleting all your information. If you choose to reinstall only your original VAIO software then your data should be all right. Check out this tutorial…

Hi Bogdan. Please can you help?! My Computer Sony Vaio SVS1311N9ES wouldn’t turn on for ages. Once it was on managed to run the test through vaio care all hardware test said they failed. ; ( backed up everything I wanted to save onto a external hard drive. Then done the factory reset all looked good .. It was taking ages so I left it alone for a while now I only have a black screen and a curser? I clicked on the mouse pad but nothing happened. Worried to try anything else as I really have 0 computer knowledge! Husband said the whole problem probably started because I used to just close the lid mostly never really turned the computer off . Could he be right? What should I do now? please can you help? !!
many thanks. Sarah

So, you got this black screen during recovery process?
You can try to press ctrl+alt+del and restart your PC. If nothing works, just keep the power button pressed for a couple of seconds until PC is turned off.

When you start your PC again it will resume from whatever process you were into. Hopefully you have no other problems and your VAIO will recover fine after this.

Thanks for your fast reply!I’ve tried both of those things you mentioned but still the same, not sure if this is any thing, but the padlock next to caps lock with a number 1 in it is the only thing lit up with the on switch.
Nothing happens? The computer doesn’t switch off either. ; (

Hi,
I have a Sony VGC-LV290J which I recently did a clean install from Vista to Windows 7, in the process I lost the Sony Home Library. Sony say that I need to perform a recovery to original settings, I do not have the discs for the recovery, is there a way to make the discs from the partition and when reset to original and perform a Windows 7 upgrade or is the file lost?
thanks

My sony vaio isn’t showing the window cause of some damages so I am using the f10 system. I have not taken a backup of my datas and I am scared to lose them. There is a option of rescuing datas but I am not sure if it will backup all my datas. Please help me regarding to that issue. Thanks.

Hello
I m avin…. I have a sony vaio vpceh25en so there hav a problem that earlier I hav install another window 7 via bootable usb …. so thats why its not working properly like its assist button is not working so that I could not go in my recovery mode and I could nt get my origanl window 7 and orignal drive. So plzzz help me dear….
I ill be very thankfull to you

Hey, i tried to recover my vaio s series vpcsb36fg. Now it is on recovering mode,but the installation of zh hk language setting won’t go over 0% since 2 hours. I don’t know what to do, should i turn it off or is there anything i could do.. i really need your help. thank you so much

Hi, just wondering if you can help me to factory reset my old outdated sony pcv-7732 avio window xp home. ive tried to boot with cd and have no success and system restore only restore to certain point which im not interest in that so please if you have any idea or advise I would really appreciate.

my sony vaio sve14133cn has been formatted so time completely and the recovery disk prepared by me also not working …as system is formatted completely. and i think only way is to take it to service center. is there any way to restore it factory setting by some other means if not than suggest me the right way…..and the nearest service center s i belong to jhunjhunu, rajasthan…

Hi,
I bought my laptop from US, using in India, before using it first I made recovery dvds. After 2 years my laptop’s hard drive got damaged so I had to change it. And my Dvdwr is also not working so how can I install my original licenced windows by using those recovery Dvds without not working Dvdwr. Please help.

unfortunately not … or not that easy … maybe you can try with some recovery software but I personally can’t recommend you anything.

Restore to factory settings is doing exactly what it suppose to do … delete all your data and personal settings and perform a clean Windows install … in this way, your computer will be in the same SW state as a new computer.

wow, bogdan you have been ans questions since 2012, hope you log in soon.
my sony vaio FW 560 F changed the HDD to SSD,,,purchased the recovery media, used command prompt to fix boot registry and MBR, now using the recovery disc to instal windows in the new drive…..stuck at 59%….its installing google for more then an hour….and the % of progress is stuck at 59

Hi … indeed, this post is quite old now :) and I’m still here.
Is your HDD still working? You can try a “migrate” all your data from HDD to SSD and then try a “restore to factory settings” … maybe you can also do this without the recovery disks (using the preinstalled recovery hidden partition).

I have a problem in my Sony laptop
Two days before I have changed the operating system of my lap from windows 7 home basic to windows ultimate and after changing the is my lap is getting mad
WiFi Bluetooth connection is not supporting
And many more drivers are not working properly
So pls give me a solution to get back my lap to good condition

I have a Sony Vaio that I began a System Recovery on. The system seemed to be stuck for hours in the recovery process- using the recovery partition process. Unfortunately, the power was disconnected and eventually the battery died.

Now the computer just starts and goes to a blank screen, then restarts. This happens over and over. I do not have recovery disks. I can get into the bios by pushing F2. But that’s it.

I have PCG 61a1L, VPCEG290X that I purchased directly from the Sony website. It has Win 7 64 bit originally, but I had installed Win 10.

I recently went back to school (online) and really need the laptop. What can I do?

Hi! i have a vpcelfx with original windows 7 home premium but I get it to repair and they install windows 10 and it doesn’t open so I installed windows 7 professional. My question is with the vaio care recover I can get back to the windows 7 home premium?

Hi Bogdan, I lost my pre installed themes while updating to windows 7 ultimate from factory given windows home basic Os. Is there is any possibility to get those themes back?? plz help me. my laptop model : VPCEA33EN
Thank you.

if you didn’t removed the “recovery” partition then you try by pressing F10 at boot screen. If you installed the Windows 7 Ultimate and deleted all the partitions, then you will need the recovery disks from Sony.

Hello Bogdan,
I am extremely impressed at all of the questions and problems you have helped people with over the years! It is overwhelming.
As for me, I have an old Vaio VGN-FE880E running Windows Vista Home, and the hard drive just crashed, and it corrupted the partition table.
I have contacted the various companies that Sony refers us to for the Recovery CDs/DVDs but none of them can help me, given how old Vista is.
So I am wondering if you might have any help or guidance. The E: recovery partition no longer boots, though bottling from the CD drive with a Norton Save and Recovery disk shows me that the E: partition is there and in NTFS file system, though the C: drive is now in a RAW file system. I am very much hoping to recover the 140G worth of files on the C; drive, which is what I am hoping the Vista Recovery disk would allow me to do, if I couled obtain that disk.
Thank you in advance for any help or guidance you could provide.

I am sorry to hear you got in trouble with your HDD. Not sure if Sony tools will do much to help you in this case … You should first try using an Live Linux distribution like ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/try-ubuntu-before-you-install) (just make an bootable USB and see if you can access anything from user interface/terminal – if you didn’t already). If this is not working you can try with some Disk/Data recovery tools like TestDisk (http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk) … if this is not working you can remove your HDD from your Sony and use a USB adapter to connect it to a different PC so you can try to recover it … Of course, try to check 2-3 times every command/step you do to avoid causing extra damages to your HDD or data on it.

If you were able to make it work, please let me know and let me know what solution you found.

my hard disk corrupted. just replaced it with a brand new one. I installed windows 7 which i got as a complementrary from sony for their update program. The factory version was Windows Vista. There are lot of drivers missing since only could install the windows 7 version. can anyone help me?

Hi Dear
I have difficult problem,i Unfortunately formated my hard drive before create recovery disks ..my pc is “VPCM” Series ,and i dont no now to create recovery partition ,i should say i cant supply to get recovery disk from sony support becuse i living in IRAN and my country Under international sanctions.
If possible please help me this about
Best Regard

Help…. ok i followed the restore on my 2009 XP laptop. it restored BUT i have lost all hardware drivers i think…
i cant connection to any internet because it wants me to put in my dial-up telephone number!!!
how come i have lost all drivers? how do i get em back
thank you in advance

Using the VAIO recovery center will delete only personal data and settings. Drivers should be all automatically installed for all your hardware. If you need fout phone number and other personal data, that’s kinda hard to recover from your PC. When you do this recovery stuff, you need to backup all your data as I mention in the first step …

Hi i have a question please try to understand because of my bad english
I want to reformat/recover/restore my Sony Vaio laptop model name is:VGN-NW240F
and it has Microsoft office my question is if i reformat/recover/restore my laptop will the microsoft office be deleted? because i know that the microsoft office is built into my laptop
I hope you can help me thank you!

Do you also received a prebuild Office licence? I know you receive only an Office Activation Assistant and the only serial is the one used to activate your Windows.

If you restore your Vaio to it’s factory settings, your will lose all your personal data and programs and you will get a fresh Windows installation with all the prebuild programs and settings.

If you have a backup and restored your Vaio, you will get back all your personal data, programs, serials and settings you had at the moment you made that backup.

If is not too late and you are about to perform a factory restore to your VAIO, I strongly recommend you to make a backup before this action. You can also save a text file with all your software keys that can be read using readers like Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder.

If you lost your paid licences you can also contact Microsoft support.